LD20S? 



€l)e (iLljrisitatt (ftotlcg?* a true 2lgen! in an6 far CfjrW s Jliwjbam. 



THE 



SERMON 



PREACHED AT 



THE CONSECRATION OF THE 



CHAPEL OF GRISWOLD COLLEGE, 



DAVENPORT, IOWA, 



ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1364* 



BY THE 



/ 



Rt. Rev. THOMAS H. VAIL, D. D., 



BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF KANSAS. 



DAYENPORT: 

PUBLISHING HOUSE OF LUSE & GRIGGS. 
1865. 



Cl)c Cljristintt QEollege, n true ^gent in anb fur ULIjrtBt's Jiinglnm, 



THE 



J 



SERMON 



PREACHED AT 



THE CONSECRATION OF THE 



CHAPEL OF GRISWOLD COLLEGE, 



DAVENPORT, IOWA, 



ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 18&1, 




EY THE 



Et. Rev. THOMAS II VAIL, D. D., 

BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF KANSAS. 



DAVENPORT: 

PUBLISHING HOUSE OF LUSE & GRIGGS. 

1865. 



,5 






Davenport, December 30, 1864. 
The Rt. Mev. Thomas H. Vail, D. D. : 
Dear Bishop, 

Believing that the publication of the able and 
appropriate discourse delivered by you to-day, at the Consecration of the 
Chapel of Griswold College, would most materially aid our Institution, and 
the general caus« of Christian Education ; we respectfully request that you 
will favor us with a copy for the press. 
By so doing, you will greatly oblige 

Your Friends 

and Servants 

in Christ Jesus, 

HENRY W. LEE, 
Bishop of the Diocese of Iowa. 
H. N. POWERS, 
President of the Collegiate Department of Griswold College. 

R. D. BROOKE, 
Professor in the Collegiate Department. 
D. S. SHELDON, 
Principal Preparatory Department. 
JOHN CHAMBERLAIN, 
Assistant in Preparatory Department, 



To Bishop Lee, President Powers, and others of the Faculty of Griswold Col- 
lege, Davenport, Iowa : 

Brethren — Your note is received. The Sermon, 
of which you ask a copy for publication, was written in the course of the' 
three days immediately preceding its delivery on Friday last. The subject, 
in our age, could not be a new one ; and I ask no indulgence for the views 
presented. Faults of style or defects of plan will, I trust, be excused in con- 
sideration of the very limited time left me for revising the discourse. I leave 
my home this afternoon for my first visit to Kansas, and must depend upon 
your kindness to see the manuscript, which I herewith place in your hands, 
in safety through the peculiar perils of the press. 

Believe me, yours fraternally, 

THOMAS H. VAIL. 
Muscatine, Iowa, Monday, January 2, 1865. 



Tab Chapel of Griswold College was consecrated to the worship and ser- 
vice of Almighty God, by the Rt. Rev. Henry W. Lee, D. D., Bishop of the 
Diocese of Iowa. It is a beautiful Gothic structure, designed and built by 
Mr. John Channon, of Davenport, and situated upon the grounds of the In- 
stitution, near the College building. It was erected by the Faculty, in con- 
nection with the Bishop, with the concurrence of the Executive Committee of 
the Board of Trustees, and by funds kindly contributed by citizens of Daven- 
port, and a few friends in Chicago and in some Eastern cities. Its cost was 
about $4,000, and it will seat two hundred persons. 

Griswold College was established in 1859, the Preparatory Department 
having been opened in December of that year. It is under the auspices of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Iowa, though open to all, 
in its Preparatory and Collegiate Departments, without reference to ecclesi- 
astical connections. The following are its present officers of instruction : 
The Rt. Rev. Henry W. Lee, D. D., ex-officio Head of the Theological De- 
partment ; the Rev. Horatio N. Powers, M. A., President of the Collegiate 
Department; the Rev. R. D. Brooke, M. A., Professor in the Collegiate De~ 
partment; D.S.Sheldon, M. A. Principal of the Preparatory Department ; 
the Rev. John Chamberlain, A. B>, Assistant in the Preparatory Department. 



SERMON. 



Isaiah, xxxiti.. terse 6. " And wisdom and knowledge shall 
be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation ; the fear of 
the Lord is his treasure." 

It seems to me 5 my brethren, that Christian people ought to 
try to live out the prophecies, so far as they describe the intellec- 
tual or moral character of the times of the Kew Dispensation, — 
tliat we should take the inspired predictions of the latter-day 
glory as one class of our guides in constructing the institutions 
through which we are to act for the elevation of society. Just 
as we take the precepts of the Xew Testament as authorities in 
everything, framing our individual action by them, and regulating 
bv them also our social activities — whatsoever we do in combina- 

m 

tion with our fellow-men, — so we should look upon the prophe- 
cies, uttered by holy men who " spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost," as furnishing important directions for us. If 
we find certain circumstances always revealed as characterizing 
the period when God's kingdom shall be fully established upon 
earth, then we should try to make those circumstances realized, 
as soon as possible, and as extensively as our influence can de- 
velop them; inasmuch as it is our bounden duty to labor for the 
coming of God's kingdom every day, while we pray for it every 
day; and inasmuch as the doing of any one thing belonging to 
that kingdom is a step towards the eventual coming of that king- 
dom in the fullness of its love and majesty and glory into our 
needy and waiting world. 



6 

It is certainly one of the very common faults of too many of 
us, that, although we pray twice or thrice every Sunday in our 
public prayers, and several times every day in our family and 
private prayers, to our Heavenly Father, " Thy kingdom come," 
we scarcely ever think of that kingdom as actually coming in the 
present, but as always to come in the future. We forget that the 
disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are every day living partly in 
God's kingdom and partly in the world ; that every thought in 
accordance with the will of God belongs to us, as we belong to 
the Holy Father ; that every word spoken and every work done, 
from the Christian motive, mark us in His sight as the children of 
His kingdom which is even now among men. Our Lord and 
Master has given us information upon this very subject; for, as 
St. Luke tells us, " when He was demanded of the Pharisees, 
when the kingdom of God should come, He answered and said, 
the kingdom of God cometh not with observation," or, M with out- 
ward show ," as the marginal reading renders it; "neither shall 
they say, Lo here ! or Lo there ! for, behold, the kingdom of God 
is within you;" or, as the same marginal reading renders it, 
" among you." If, then, it be true, that God's kingdom is 
already come in part; that it is always coming in the present, in 
the sincere experience and efforts of the disciples of Christ ; that 
men err, when they expect it only in the future, and then with 
great outward show, as in the rending of the heavens or in the 
rushing of fiery flames over the earth ; and that those are right 
who, in simply enquiring after the will of God and patiently do- 
ing it, are thus laboring to realize His kingdom among and with- 
in themselves, as a daily blessing in answer to a daily prayer ; 
then we are encouraged to search carefully in all the Scriptures 
for the will of the Father, and to endeavor to have it " done on 
earth as it is in heaven." 

Now, to apply these remarks. We find, in our text, from the 
glowing pen of the Evangelical Prophet, a statement of some of 
the characteristics of the times of the Messiah, which we should 
receive as suggesting vital rules for our personal and active ser- 
vice in the cause of Christ. 

That Isaiah, in the text, referred to Messianic times, is gener- 
ally conceded. The primary application of the words was to 
Hezekiah, who, occupying the throne of Judah, was trembling in 
apprehension of the Assyrian invasion. The conqueror had vio- 



i 



fated his faith ; he had spoken great swelling words against the 
Most High ; he had broken up the defenced cities of the border ; 
and with vast armies was threatening Jerusalem. In his extrem- 
ity the king looked to God, and the seer was sent to comfort him, 
foretelling the destruction of his enemies, and the establishment 
•of the throne >of David in his person for many years. And, 
mingled in the mind of the prophet, with the thoughts of that 
small secular kingdom, were thoughts of another — a great and 
Divine kingdom; and with the person of Hezekiah the idea of 
another Son of David was blended — a nobler Prince— the one 
whom all the others but dimly typified — that Son of David who 
was also the Son of God. Speaking in this double sense, the 
prophet said: " Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of 
thy times and strength of salvation ; the fear of the Lord is his* 
treasure;" words having but an imperfect application to Hezekiah 
and his history, and never completely fulfilled in him, but waiting 
for their perfect application and complete fulfillment in the times 
of the Royal Messiah. 

Assuming the interpretation of the text here given to be cor- 
rect, we notice three of the prominent characteristics of the times 
of Christ, or the kingdom of God upon earth — icisdom, and 
knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, "Wisdom," that is, religious 
teaching and doctrine, "and knowledge," that is, general intellec- 
tual cultivation, (for these are the plain meanings of these terms, 
as they are frequently used in the Book of Proverbs, and in other 
parts of the Bible,) " shall be the stability of thy times and 
strength of salvation," that is, shall be the basis of all national 
security and the means of political strength and preservation ; 
" the fear of the Lord is his treasure," that is, a real religious 
character, personal piety, is the most valuable possession, With 
and above all the rest, in the individual and in the people. These 
three things — wisdom, or religious instruction, knowledge, or 
general intellectual cultivation, and the fear of the Lord, or per- 
sonal piety, — will be distinguishing traits in the kingdom of the 
Messiah, when it shall be universally and fully established ; they 
are distinguishing traits in that kingdom, as it is now being estab- 
lished, by His Spirit and by His Providence, in and through His 

* The transition, as in this passage, from the second to the third porson, In a single Terse, in 
reference to the same individual, is not unusual in the Hebrew idiom, as in the blessing of 
Jacob upon Reuben (Genesis, xlix. 4), so familiar to all readers of the Old Testament, and in 
other places. 



8 

disciples upon the earth. And these three things, as character- 
istics of God's kingdom among men, are therefore to be aimed 
at, to be developed, to be extended, by the disciples of the Sa- 
viour, in their active efforts for the benefit of the world. 

Among the institutions originated by Christian benevolence, 
and working in and for the kingdom of God, there is none, it 
seems to me, in which these three characteristic ideas of this king- 
dom are more admirably united or more clearly exhibited than in 
the Christian College. The College, representing these ideas, is 
thus proved to be a Christian institution and a worthy agent for 
the Messiah in His times. 

Take this College for an example. Here the child is received 
in his early youth, and, in the Preparatory School, taught faith- 
fully and thoroughly in those elementary studies which lie at the 
foundation of a liberal education and of a successful business 
life. Then, after sufficient tuition in these elements, as he ripens 
in age and matures in understanding, he is advanced into the 
Collegiate Department, and for several years carried through a 
course of classical, scientific and literary culture. And then, if 
his heart so prompt him, he goes up, with the earnestness and 
vigor of a young manhood upon him, into the Theological School, 
where, in the study of exegesis; and in the reading of history ; 
and in the balancing of controversies ; and in the systematizing 
of doctrines ; and in the practice of rhetoric ; and in the disci- 
pline of style ; and in the various exercises designed to prepare 
him for pastoral and for pulpit efficiency, he is trained for the 
work of the ministry, until he is at length sent forth as an or- 
dained and commissioned ambassador for Christ to men. "With 
the intellectual cidtivation is associated, all through this protracted 
course of study, from the first day of the Preparatory drilling to 
the last day of the Theological examination, that religious in- 
struction which should go with it, deducing, from the remains of 
classic paganism, evidence of the spiritual needs as well as of 
the large capacities of the immortal soul; showing the harmony 
of all science with the Divine revelation ; and testing all philoso- 
phies and ethics and laws by the supreme morality and infallible 
decisions of the Word of God. Here, in this Christian College, 
we find distinctly recognized two of the ideas of the text — that 
u wisdom and knowledge" — that intellectual cultivation and re- 
ligious instruction, which are for the security of our times, and 
for the preservation of our people. 



9 

But, you very properly ask, where is the provision in this In- 
stitution for that third idea which the text suggests ? What are 
the agencies arranged for the promotion of that "fear of the 
Lord/^ — that personal piety — which is the peculiar treasure, the 
most valuable possession of the Church and nation ? I answer, 
we find the provision for this third idea in the occasion which has 
gathered us together to-day — in this beautiful Chapel, of which 
it is but just that we should say, the careful and tasteful plan, . 
and the convenient arrangements reflect deserved credit upon the 
promising young architect who designed it, and of which the 
mechanical execution is deserving of honest praise for its excel- 
lence and for its fidelity. We find the recognition of the im- 
portance and necessity of personal piety, in this holy house, 
henceforth to be known as the Chapel of Griswold College, 
and this day " consecrated to the honor of God's great name, 
separating it henceforth from all unhallowed, ordinary, and 
common uses, and dedicating it to His service, for reading 
His holy word, for celebrating His holy sacraments, for offer- 
ing to His glorious Majesty the sacrifices of prayer and 
thanksgiving, for blessing the people in His name, and for the 
performance of all other holy offices."* The adding of this 
Chapel to the buildings of the corporation, and the adding of its 
services regularly and permanently to the agencies of the Insti- 
tution, perfect the ideal of a Christian College. In this house, 
infants and adults, from among those associated with the work of 
the Institution, either as teachers or pupils, or from the surround- 
ing population, who, by the favoring Providence of God, are 
made partakers of its benefits, shall be dedicated to God by bap- 
tism. At this place some, who under the influence of Divine 
Truth have been led to see Christ's claims to their service and to 
desire to confess His holy name, shall, in their own persons, re- 
new the promises and vows which they made, or which were 
made for them by their sureties, at their baptism, and thereupon 
shall be confirmed by the Bishop. In this place shall be received 
the blessed sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, which 
cannot be shut in by academic walls ; and which, wherever ad- 
ministered, can never be denied to any who. sincerely and worth- 
ily present themselves to receive it at the open table of their 
Lord. In this place God's holy word shall be read and preached 

* The Form of Consecration of a Church or Chapel- 

2 

• ' '- - . . : . • . ; - 



10 

— that word which may never be confined to a select few, but is, 
whenever published, always published to the world ; which, the 
Apostle tells us, is " not bound ;" and which is proclaimed by 
those whose unlimited commission is: "Freely ye have received, 
freely give." In this place some, consciously or unconsciously, 
(alas for them ! if they be unconscious of the honor,) exhibiting 
the mystical union of Christ and His Church, shall be joined to- 
gether in the holy estate of matrimony. In this place the dis- 
ciples of the blessed Lord shall draw near to Him, to give Him 
thanks for the benefits which they have received at His hands, to 
set forth His most worthy praise, to confess their sins unto Him 
and to ask such things as are requisite and necessary as well for 
the body as for the soul.* In the services of this day is the 
complement of all that has hitherto been done for Griswold Col- 
lege. To-day, in the consecration of this Chapel as an established 
condition in the organization and working of the College, this 
Institution stands forth, although young and as yet without much 
strength, yet fully ordered and qualified, as representing the 
three essential ideas of a Christian College, and as a scripturally- 
approved agent for Christ's work in the world. 

It is of great importance to us, my brethren, both as we desire 
the general good of our fellow-men, and as we desire the special 
good of our beloved country, that we appreciate the principle in- 
volved in the text, and clearly enunciated elsewhere in the Scrip- 
tures, that education, both secular and religious, and especially as 
these two classes are united, is the moral and political strength of a 
•people. And, therefore, both as philanthropists and as citizens, 
we should welcome the multiplication of Christian Colleges, and 
should sustain them as we have Providentially the opportunity. 

Isaiah, the Divinely-Inspired, tells us, that " wisdom and knowl- 
edge shall be the stability of the Messiah's times ;" therefore, as 
Christians, we ought to try to extend wisdom and knowledge. 
Daniel, enlightened by the same holy Inspiration, informs us that, 
in the times when the Messiah's kingdom shall be established 
" many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" 
(xii. 4) ; therefore the diffusion of knowledge is one of the means 
of preparing the world for Christ's universal kingdom. We need 
not multiply proofs. 

* S«« sam9 Form of Consecration, &c. 



11 

But there are those who maintair that secular knowledge may 
never, in any system of public instruction, be given to the people 
separated from religious knowledge ; and that, if the religious 
cannot be united with the secular, then the secular should be dis- 
couraged, — in other words, that popular ignorance without re- 
ligion is better than popular education without religion. And, 
holding these views, they object to the only method of Common 
School or Public Education, which is practicable in our country 
under its political system.. I contest this objection, for the reason 
that it is, in my judgment, far better for society to carry out a 
part of God's plan for social education and comfort, even if 
through our fault or our misfortune His whole plan be not car- 
ried out, than to neglect His plan altogether. And, moreover, I 
think that, in the ajDplying of this objection to our system of Pub- 
lic Education as it operates in reality (however defective it may 
be in theory, if it be so defective), these objectors are guilty of a 
great practical mistake. For, while, in the the theory of our 
Public Schools, the religious and the secular elements are not 
within them united, yet, practically, they are not in the whole ed- 
ucation of the children separated; for the same children, who at 
certain hours of the day acquire secular knowledge in the Public 
Schools, are not prohibited from acquiring religious knowledge 
at other hours. And accordingly they are, at the same time and 
all the time, being taught religious knowledge in the families, the 
Sunday Schools, and the Churches of the religious bodies with 
which they are connected. And thus, in their whole education, 
by public and private agencies working together continuously, 
both the religious and secular elements of education are, as a 
general fact, practically provided for. And who shall say that, 
in our country, the great majority of whose citizens and voters 
believe in Christianity, while it is a part of our political theory 
that the civil government shall, by legislation and general taxa- 
tion, provide only secular education for the people, it is not equal- 
ly and emphatically another part of our political theory, that the 
needed religious education will and shall be provided by private 
and denominational instrumentalities ? 

Still, while justifying and approving our Public Schools, as, 
although an imperfect system, yet the best that is practicable 
under our existing political economy, I frankly admit, that the 
most perfect system, although, from its nature, more limited in its 



12 

work, is that where a religious body, sustaining an educational 
institution under its own oversight, provides, upon such a liberal 
basis as shall open its doors as widely as possible for the benefit 
of the public, for that special and distinctive religious teaching 
which shall go side by side with the secular ; and which, while 
the intellect of the pupils is being educated, shall also, by His 
blessing, lead out their hearts and lives into the love and service 
of Almighty God. Upon this more perfect system, the Collegi- 
ate Institutions of our country, following the shining example of 
those of our mother-land, are generally founded. And this more 
perfect system we see at length completely developed in the his- 
tory of Griswold College to-day, when not only the Chapel is 
built and consecrated, but its stated services are provided for ; 
they being under the supervision and direction of the Bishop of 
the Diocese, who is President of the Board of Trustees, and 
ex-officio Head of the Theological Department. 

I think those persons assume a great responsibility who, under 
any circumstances, speak lightly of intellectual cultivation. As 
God made the mind, He evidently designed it for improvement, 
and for the development of its powers by the discipline of educa- 
tion. It cannot then be wrong to carry out so much of His plan. 
St. Paul tells us, " he that cometh to God must believe" (that is, 
intellectually,) " that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them 
that diligently seek Him" (Heb. xi. 6), in which statement he 
shows that a certain amount of intellectual preparation is neces- 
sary to the reception of important religious truths. And St. 
James implies the same view when he asserts, " thou believest" 
(that is, intellectually,) " that there is one God ; thou doest well ; 
the devils also believe and tremble" (ii. 19). Intellectual faith is 
not enough for the salvation of sinners ; but it is good as far as 
it goes, — " thou doest well," — it is not to be decried in itself. 
This knowledge, as far as it goes, is desirable. Better for the 
opportunities of salvation to the undying soul, and more for the 
glory of God, that the sinful man, in his probation, should, like 
the devils, " believe and tremble," in view of the holiness of God 
and the terrors of His law, than that he should be, as the fellow 
of the blind, dead clod, in stupid ignorance of Jehovah. St. 
Peter writes to Christians : " Be ready always to give an an- 
swer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is 
in you, with meekness and fear" (I. Peter, iii. 15), to do which 



13 

intelligently a certain amount of information and mental accom- 
plishment is necessary. And our Saviour makes an appeal to 
the judgment and intelligence of men, when he enquires : "Yea, 
and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" (St. 
Luke, xii. 57). He also commanded: "Judge not according to 
the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (John, vii. 24.) 
In both which passages He demands the exercise of thought and 
investigation, and of course implies an approval of that mental 
cultivation which exercises and enlarges the reasoning powers, 
and enables a person to form accurate opinions and judgments. 

All truths are harmonious. The more real knowledge you give 
a man, the more you fit him for comprehending the highest 
knowledge. The more power you give to his mental faculties, 
the more ability you give him for investigating both the evidence 
and the distinctive principles of religious truth. " The habit of 
thinking comprehensively," says the distinguished and able author 
of the Natural History of Enthusiasm, in his thoughtful essay 
introductory to Edwards on the Will, " may be called a means of 
virtue." (Note E. E., page 157.) In another place he says: 
" It is proper to the human mind to conceive abstractedly of a 
mode of action, or a style of character, better than its own; and 
to assume that conception as a permanent object of desire. In 
consequence of such a desire, a tendency towards it, more or less 
strong and uniform, takes place. In this manner, amendments, 
reformations, and even complete revolutions of character, are 
every day occurring in the human system This intellect- 
ual operation runs parallel with the moral operation of self-edu- 
cation ; and the one may be taken to illustrate or explain the 
other," (pp. 87-88). The more you enlarge the understanding 
of the man, the more exalted are the models for imitation su<r- 
gested to him. 

We do not mean that mere knowledge, whether secular or re- 
ligious, directly reforms the heart. That spiritual change of char- 
acter, which always accompanies a justifying faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ, can be accomplished only by the Holy Ghost, act- 
ing, in the case of adults and of all responsible moral beings, 
through the truth. Our Saviour's prayer to His Father was : 
ct Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth." Would 
that this greatest blessing of a " new and contrite heart" might 
be the precious gift of God to us all through Him who loved us 



14 

and gave Himself for us ! But while we do not believe that 
knowledge itself regenerates or renews the soul, we do believe 
that it prepares the mind for embracing that system of religious 
doctrines through which God accomplishes a spiritual reforma- 
tion. It shows the connections of truth, and the relations of 
truths to each other. Christianity approaches the educated mind 
with proofs which make the man an intelligent defender and a 
firm, confiding disciple. It unfolds to him every day some new 
evidence of its heavenly original. It stands in the middle point 
of the wide field of knowledge, under the apt personification of 
Truth, extending her sceptre over each of its many departments 
— over Morals, as the arbiter of Justice ; over Politics, as the 
faithful umpire who reconciles or decides between apparently an- 
tagonistic principles ; over Metaphysics, as the guide who defines 
its paths and adjusts its boundaries ; over Fixed Science, as the 
celestial counsellor and companion, who teaches it to seek ever 
His glory who " laid the foundations of the earth so sure that it 
should not be removed" (Ps. civ. 6), and who "calleth all of their 
host on high by names by the greatness of His might." (Isaiah, 
xl. 26.) All truth is one, proceeding from one source and tend- 
ing to one end — the glory of God and the happiness of moral 
beings. There must then be mutual relations and connections of 
all truths. As the discoverv of one truth ensures that of others 
so human knowledge prepares the mind for appreciating Divine 
wisdom. In like manner, the traveller, ascending some lofty 
mountain, as he rises on each successive eminence, will behold 
the forms of the glacier and the crag upon its summit more dis- 
tinctly, while the horizon, still enlarging, will disclose below him 
a widening extent of country, where he may trace its rivers and 
count the number and the situation of its towns. " The highest 
learning is to be wise," said the imperial philosopher, Marcus 
Antoninus, " and the greatest wisdom is to be good." Therefore 
let us advocate learning — with religion, if the union of the two can 
possibly be effected ; but let not the Christian, of all men, decry 
that learning which, if unhappily it come alone, at least saves the 
man from some errors to which he would otherwise be liable, and 
prepares him, to some extent, for appreciating and receiving the 
highest truth. " Man, as an inventive and active being," writes 
the author whom we have already adduced, " is placed in the 
centre of the harmonies of the material universe ; so that it shall 



1 
15 

always, and by the very necessity of nature, be true, that 
knowledge is his friend. And while he learns this great lesson, 
he derives from it the means of detecting the mischiefs and falla- 
cies of false philosophy. Genuine science, he well knows, ap- 
proaches him always as a kind and beneficent instructress ; — she 
has ever some boon in her hands ; — she aids and comforts her 
pupil ; — she walks on with him in the paths of improvement ; ac- 
celerates his pace ; stimulates his energies ; and calls him still on 
and on towards higher ground." (Essay introductory to Edwards 
on the Will, section 2, pp. 35-36.) We are thankful, that, in the 
system of this College, religion and science go hand in hand; 
and that the youth who tread the halls of this Alma Mater, will 
have every assistance and encouragement towards both the cul- 
tivated intellect and the sanctified heart. 

I had intended to speak, at greater length than is now possible, 
of the duty which the State ovjcs to such Institutions as this. And, 
since the topic cannot be entirely omitted, I must content myself 
with a brief reference to it. These higher Schools and Colleges 
are a strong support to the State, and should therefore receive in 
return care and assistance from the State. The education of the 
people should not only be secured by the State, as far as the Com- 
mon and Public Schools may effect it, but, since the State can- 
not, under our existing political system, provide directly the 
needed Collegiate Institutions in which a more advanced knowl- 
edge, coupled with religious influences and motives, is communica- 
ted, it ought at least to aid effectually, by suitable appropriations 
and donations from time to time, the private enterprise and the 
Christian benevolence which are ensued in sustaining; such In- 
stitutions. When it gives the charter for incorporating one of 
these Colleges, it recognizes the propriety and importance of the 
effort; and should, for its own security and advantage, be ready 
to render material assistance. An institution such as this, for ex- 
ample, located in the very business and military capital of the 
State ; for which great exertions and great sacrifices have been 
made by its founder and friends, with a view to the public good 
in this growing West and in this thriving State ; with buildings 
such as adorn these grounds ; with the valuable and beautiful 
grounds adding ornament to the city ; with a Preparatory School 
second in its excellence to none ©ther in the State ; with a Libra- 
ry already stored with choice and well-selected books, of perma- 



16 

nent value not only to the students of the College, but to the 
citizens of the State ; with a Mineralogical and Conchological 
Cabinet which would do credit to an Eastern University;* with 
able Professors for the Collegiate Department, and for the Theo- 
logical School ; with all the machinery for active usefulness ; and 
lacking only time (a lack from which every young College must 
suffer, and which every year reduces,) for reputation and for 
venerableness ; with a provision now made for pastoral oversight 
and for evangelical instruction ; and with terms of admission and 
residence so liberal that all, of whatever religious convictions, 
may, with entire respect to their liberty of conscience and 
opinion, have the full and equal use of all the educational advan- 
tages of the College ; — an institution, I say, such as this, one of 
the bulwarks of the State, and one of the supports of society, 
ought to have, from the State, not only a chartered permission to 
live, but also a generous assistance in the days of its infancy and 
need— such generous pecuniary assistance, and for the same com- 
prehensive reasons of public policy, as all our older States have 
given without stint to their denominational Colleges, making them 
a strength to the Civil Commonwealth and a power in the intel- 
lectual and moral world. I can only throw out this hint towards 
a most suggestive line of thought. 

My brethren, as we are this day engaged in the solemn but 
blessed act of consecrating this Chapel of Griswold College to 
the honor of Almighty God, my mind and my heart are crowded 
with the memories of that venerable man, whose name will be 
forever associated with this Chapel and with this College. If he 
could have been spared to this hour, he, of all men, would have 
most rejoiced in it; though not that his name is associated with 
it. If the honor of such a distinction had been proffered to him 
living, with his characteristic humility he would doubtless have 
declined it, as he always shrank from any preeminence of mere place 
or title. Apprehending the characters of other men, with an 
accuracy and a readiness which amounted almost to intuition, his 
great judgment failed only when lie judged himself. The men 
of the generation in the midst of which he moved, and which 
looked up to him as a Father in God, have felt that his precious 

* Professor Agassiz, of Harvard University, in a recent visit to Iowa, visited Griswold 
College, and examined this Cabinet, not only complimenting the collection highly, but offer- 
ing to purchase it, at a largo price, that ho might add it to the rich collections of his own 
University. 



17 

name, like his revered character, should be kept fresh, as a 
"household word," for posterity; and that do monument could 
be more suitable, for commemorating his virtues, than a Christian 
College which should bear his name. Himself, the friend of 
learning ; himself, of large literary and scientific attainments ; 
himself, ever longing, like his Divine Master, to do good to men ; 
himself, filled with the Missionary soul, and always ready to make 
sacrifices for others ; himself, to his latest hour, devising compre- 
hensive plans for extending the truth of God to the destitute in 
our own country, and among the heathen ; he would have wel- 
comed this enterprise, and have breathed his warmest blessing 
upon the head of the first Bishop of the Diocese of Iowa, under 
whose large designings and by whose energetic efforts the noble 
work of founding and organizing this Christian Institution ha^ 
been accomplished. One memorial of Bishop Griswold, within 
this Chancel this morning, is reminding us most touching! y of his 
sympathy with our present work. The Chair,* which had its 
place in his study; in which he so often sat for rest or for med- 
itation ; which was the mute witness of his long-continued habits 
of studious industry, of his deep thinkings and his laborious 
writings; and by which he so often knelt when offering up his 
earnest prayers in the silence and secrecy of his daily communion 
with God, is recalling to our minds grateful recollections of -his 
sanctity and zeal for truth, and presenting to our conceptions an 
example and a standard for our imitation. That Chair is before 
us, vacant to-day, reminding us, that he who once used it is de- 
parted hence, and bidding us to remember the dead Bishop, and 
to " follow him even as he also followed Christ," — vacant, I say, 
to-day in all [propriety ; for who, in services such as these, is 
worthy to sit where he sat, or to occupy the high place which he 
so meekly yet majestically filled ? May God send the spirit of 
zeal and wisdom and love, which animated Bishop Griswold, up- 
on all those to whom the oversight of this Institution has been 
given ! 

And now, let the Bishop of Iowa, the ever-respected Founder 
of this Institution, who also gave to it the name which honors 
it, and whom, of all his children in God, the Apostolic Griswold 

* The Chair referred to came into the possession of Bishop Lee in a singular and peenttar 
manner, immediately after his consecration to the Episcopate, ten years since. It now grafts 
his own study; and it is his purpose to have it occupy a conspicuous position at th« sne- 
cessire annual Commencements of the Institution. 

3 



18 

would have selected and appointed for this important work, thank 
God and take courage. And let all the friends of Griswold Col- 
lege thank God and take courage. Let us use all honorable 
means to bring the Institution before the attention of the citizens 
of this State and of the West, for their patronage and for their 
benefit. Let it be commended, in a suitable time and way, to 
the consideration of our legislators — the legal guardians and pro- 
moters of education within the State. Let the inhabitants of 
the thriving and beautiful city where it is located, feel and mani- 
fest a pride in this College, which is one of the honors and one 
of the attractions of their city ; and let them sustain it by all 
their influence. 

The work, my brethren, of establishing an institution like 
Griswold Cpllege, in this portion of the Western Valley, is none 
too soon undertaken. This great river, running for thousands of 
miles through a country wonderful for its agricultural capacities, 
and draining the granary of a world, is in due time to be bor- 
dered with busy towns ; and that time is not far off in the future. 
These vast prairies, spread out from the Mississippi towards the 
setting sun, even to the base of the Rocky Mountains, are to be 
filled with a teeming, active population, who require and will re- 
quire all the directing influences of a sound and thorough educa- 
tion, and all the restraining and saving influences of Christian 
piety. First in the field, with the energy and the self-denial of 
the pioneer, let this Alma Mater — this nourishing mother — have 
the rewards and the dignities of the successful pioneer, when the 
wilderness becomes the fruitful garden. 

If I speak of encouragements, I say, let this fair mother, from 
her elevated home on this cak-crowned hill, look forth upon the 
open plains which stretch away from her feet into the intermin- 
able West, and with the spirit of the Evangelical Sower, such as 
our Lord describes in His parable, let her go abroad upon those 
fertile plains, and sow the precious seed of Christian learning. 
It will spring up and bear fruit an hundred-fold, for the good of 
the nation, and for the praise of God. We are working for the 
present — for a needy people — for an inviting harvest — for a co- 
operating Master. Let us work in desire — in hope — in expect- 
ation. 

If I speak of discouragements, I say, let this fair mother, seated 
here upon the banks of the majestic flowing Mississippi — emblem 



19 

of the stream of population flowing also past her view into the 
far-off depths of the continent — like the oriental husbandman 
scattering his grain upon the face of the inundation, in unques- 
tioning confidence or in uncalculating benevolence, cast, in like 
manner and in the same spirit, her bread upon the waters, as they 
ever move down to the sea. Along the river's lengthened course, 
many a spot in the wide valley will be made green by the boun- 
tiful gift ; and the waters of the distant Gulf, laving the shores 
of both the Hemispheres, will distribute some portion of the gift 
as a blessing to all the nations ; — even as the ashes of Wickliffe, 
carried down to the sea, sanctified its many floods, and hallowed 
all lands washed by the ocean's waves. We are working for the 
future — for humanity — for God. Let us work in patience — in 
earnestness — in faith. 

Or, if, without reference to encouragements or to discourage- 
ments, I speak of simple duty, I say, let this fair mother, in this 
day of her anxiety and fear, come forth from the Academic Hall, 
where, with limited means, she is endeavoring to nourish with 
fidelity the children committed to her maternal keeping — let her, 
I say, come, with her burden of care, into this Sanctuary of God 
just consecrated to His glory, for her comfort and for her strength; 
and here, in His house, let her cast her burden upon the Lord ; 
and here, in His house, let her kneel and pray ; and here, in His 
house, still kneeling upon her knees, with bowed head, and with 
bended form, and with folded hands, a meek and trusting sup 
pliant before the mercy seat, let her wait — for His blessing. 



Prayer set forth by Bishop Lee, to be used in the College service. 

O God, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy ; may 
thy blessing rest upon this Institution, established in thy fear and 
for thy glory. May it ever be built up on the true foundation, 
Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner-Stone. May those 
who teach be taught of thee ; and may those who learn be made 
wise unto salvation. To those who are preparing for the sacred 
Ministry of thy Church, give thy grace and heavenly benedic- 
tion ; and to all who are here gathered together to receive in- 
struction, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, thy Holy Spirit, and inspire 
within them a love of thy Holy Name. Preserve them from all 
evil and danger, from wicked habits, and from everything that is 
sinful in thy sight. May they all remember thee, their Creator, 
in the days of their youth ; and finally be made partakers of ever- 
lasting life ; through Jesus Christ, our most blessed Lord and 
Saviour. Amen. 



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